The Prisoner: The bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club pick for 2023

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This is my 6th BA Paris novel and also my least favourite. Yes, it ranks below the much-panned The Dilemma. I don't think The Prisoner is slow, boring or badly written at all. I actually started out liking it so imagine my own horror when I realised it would be a 1-star read for me. 1 stars and BA Paris just don't exist in the same world... until now. The premise of the story was interesting and some of the individual scenes were quite frightening which I enjoyed along with the short sharp chapters to help build that sense of time and suspense. In the end, this story didn't work for me. The plot holes were hard to overlook, too much explaining was going on and the boring characters made me feel like the prisoner. After sighing, grumbling, and eye-rolling my way through most of The Prisoner...those feelings were a LITTLE too close to home. I liked Amelie’s initiative to try to gain some control of the situation when she was in captivity.

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris | Waterstones The Prisoner by B.A. Paris | Waterstones

We move on, climb stone steps, I count them, twelve in all. Then, at the top, the worn stone under my feet becomes warm wood, softer against my skin. A door is opened, I’m moved forward.In the Past, Amelie, orphaned at 16, naive and gullible, takes herself to London after her Papa’s death, and manages to get herself a job as a live-in housekeeper/cook after following a woman home from a coffee shop. (Really?) Characters flit from place to place to serve the plot. Conversational exchanges happen that would NEVER happen in real life. Though the chapters are short and I was still able to blow through this in a few days, it was somewhat of a torturous experience. I kept wanting there to be emotional depth, surprising reveals, ANYTHING to make it make sense and make it seem like the plot was truly going somewhere interesting... but that never happened.

The Prisoner: The bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club pick - WHSmith The Prisoner: The bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club pick

After her father’s death, Amelie tries to start over in France. There she makes a few friends who get her set up including the handsome and wealthy Ned Hawthorne. After a shotgun wedding, broken promise, a murder or two and a car ride later, Amelie wakes up in total darkness. Her world begins to crumble around her as she realizes that she has been kidnapped. Who has done this to her and why? The Circle evokes the chills of 'The Stepford Wives.' A well-crafted psychological thriller."— Booklist I thought Paris' book the Dilemma was implausible...and it is. However, this one took the word 'implausible' to a whole new level. This is the sort of book that not only requires a suspension of disbelief, but a complete willingness to forego logic ENTIRELY...and a willingness to be okay with the fact that about 75% of it doesn't really make any sense. Although the first half of the book was stronger than the book's second half, overall, the book was too S-L-O-W burn for my fastidious palate.BA Paris is a talented author who is highly skilled in masterfully orchestrating compelling psychological thrillers. However, the second half of the book won me over, as the pace increases significantly due to the shorter chapters, and the answers I needed were discovered.

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris | Goodreads The Prisoner by B.A. Paris | Goodreads

Carolyn, the woman who takes her in, ends up befriending her, and she is welcomed into her Worldly circle of friends, where she will eventually meet her husband, Ned. (Really?) Unfortunately by the time Amelie pieced everything together and finally unearthed the 'Who, What, Where, Why' of everything I was already OVER IT! Some of the scenarios with Amelie, including her Vegas trip, seemed too far-fetched and unrealistic. To say the explanation fell short and was far from believable and I was very disappointed would definitely be an understatement! Overall, it just seemed like everything about this one was just all thrown together in a hurry, hoping for the best. Ironically, I did actually feel like this read a bit long at multiple points too. I just had an overwhelming feeling of frustration upon completing this, and I believe tenured thriller/suspense enthusiasts will agree with me on this one. That being said, I believe new readers of the genre might receive this one differently. Anything's possible! This was my least favorite of her novels, by far and it almost felt like a different person had written it, especially towards the end. Everything considered, with this being my second bad experience with this author, I'm probably done reading her work, unfortunately.B.A. Paris has always been a favorite. I'm a card-carrying fan from the beginning. But The Prisoner just didn't rise to the occasion for me. Let me explain: With all of this being said, it was suspenseful and it did keep me fairly engaged, but I have read all of B.A. Paris's works and when I see her name on a cover, I get excited. Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she is swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she married the handsome billionaire Ned Hawthorne. Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.